new message series this sunday

I am starting a new message series this Sunday, February 14, called Destinations which is based on the life of Nehemiah. I am very excited about it and the challenges that it will put before us. Life is a journey, and every journey has a destination. At the end of our lives, we all end up somewhere-the ultimate question for us is-Do we end up there on purpose?

I read this passage this morning (Job 40.4-5)
Then Job answered the Lord:

“I am unworthy—how can I reply to you?
I put my hand over my mouth.

I spoke once, but I have no answer—
twice, but I will say no more.”

Sometimes our best response is to be quiet and listen. "Can you hear me now?"

plan b

Plan B from Cross Point Church on Vimeo.

By Pete Wilson

2 great quotes used on sunday

"It is not the critic that counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly … who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly."--Teddy Roosevelt


"To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket—safe, dark, motionless, airless—it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. The alternative to tragedy, or at least to the risk of tragedy is damnation. The only place outside Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers and perturbations of love is Hell."--C.S. Lewis

The average age of churchgoers is 61, according to according to the latest statistics from the Church of England.

I read this article at ToddRhodes.com and found it very alarming. Do you think the American Church is heading in this direction? If so, what needs to happen to reverse the trend?

The report, compiled by the research and statistics department of the Archbishops’ Council, also found half of those in the pews are pensioners.
Some rural congregations were older than 65 on average, while the youngest Anglicans were found in London, with the ‘standard’ churchgoer aged 54.

It compares with the population as a whole where the average adult age is 48.
This is the first year in which the Church has analysed the ages of its congregations in detail, so no long-term trends can be determined.

However, weekly church attendance continues to fall according to separate figures published on Friday. Around 1.14m people went to a church service at least once a week in 2008, the latest figures show, but average Sunday attendance was down to 960,000 from 978,000 the previous year.

There were also slightly fewer infant baptisms, confirmations, marriages and funerals. Details of the ages of churchgoers are likely to reinforce fears that congregations will continue to dwindle. However the number of children and young people at services each week did rise by three per cent last year to 225,000.

The Rev Lynda Barley, the Church of England’s head of research and statistics, acknowledged the report showed “some disappointments”. But she added: “It is important to see these trends in the context of wider changes in a society where fewer people are willing to join and take part in membership organizations. “Political parties have seen their memberships fall by around 40 per cent in recent years. “Even in a General Election year, almost double the number of members of the three main political parties taken together will attend a Church of England parish church on Sunday.”

By Andy Bloxham, and Martin Beckford
Published: 4:01PM GMT 22 Jan 2010

powerful video and song

I saw this clip on Jeff Leake's blog. Powerful story of worshipping even "when you don't feel it."



The Desert Song

Verse 1:
This is my prayer in the desert
And all that's within me feels dry
This is my prayer in the hunger in me
My God is a God who provides

Verse 2:
And this is my prayer in the fire
In weakness or trial or pain
There is a faith proved
Of more worth than gold
So refine me Lord through the flames

Chorus:
And I will bring praise
I will bring praise
No weapon forged against me shall remain

I will rejoice
I will declare
God is my victory and He is here

Verse 3:
And this is my prayer in the battle
And triumph is still on it's way
I am a conqueror and co-heir with Christ
So firm on His promise I'll stand

Bridge:
All of my life
In every season
You are still God
I have a reason to sing
I have a reason to worship

Verse 4:
This is my prayer in the harvest
When favor and providence flow
I know I'm filled to be empited again
The seed I've recieved I will sow

weekend reflections

Excerpts from Primal Week 3:

Isn’t amazing how kids are filled with a sense of wonder and amazement at life. And then we grow up and lose that. In another place Jesus that we must become like a child to truly know him.

Bottom line we need a revelation from God. At times this word has been over spiritualized. It simply means we need God to reveal himself to us in fresh ways.

A few decades ago, a pair of psychologists named William Samuelson and Richard Zeckhauser discovered a phenomenon they dubbed the status quo bias. Simply put: most of us have a tendency to keep doing what we've been doing without giving it much thought.

Ever been offered a free subscription to a magazine for the first year? Why would we be offered something for free? It’s because magazine companies understand the status quo bias. Most of us will forget to cancel. And it’s not really that we’ve forgotten. We’re just too lazy to make a simple phone call or write a simple letter. Right? That is human nature! We tend to keep doing what we’ve been doing. And the problem with that is this: if you keep doing what you’ve always done you’ll keep getting what you’ve always gotten.

Leonardo da Vinci once observed “that the average person looks without seeing, listens without hearing, touches without feeling, eats without tasting, inhales without awareness of odor or fragrance, and talks without thinking.”

I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his people … (Eph 1.18)

Do we miss the beauty and majesty of this thing called relationship?

Is it possible that we’ve given God a passing glance instead of truly hallowing his name? Is it possible that we have settled for a God that we can fit into our box?

What amazes you? What causes your jaw to drop?

We serve a God who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us (Eph 3.20)

Wonder, worship, and even understanding cannot be reduced down to 26 letters of the English alphabet. Wonder defies logic.

If loving God with all of our heart means a heart that breaks for the things that break the heart of God. Loving God with all of our soul means a soul full of wonder, a soul flooded with the glory of God, a soul awed by beauty and mystery, a soul that hallows God above all else.

As Christians, have we become blind to God’s wonder, the beauty of his creation.

I am away for a few days asking God for a fresh revelation. Open the eyes of my heart, Lord, I need to see you ...

special offering for haiti

This Sunday, January 17, Journey Church is going to take a special offering to help with the relief efforts in Haiti. Please come prepared to give a generous offering above and beyond your regular giving. Here is the latest correspondence from Jeff Swaim who is the Senior Director of Church Relations for Convoy of Hope:

"Convoy of Hope has experienced relief workers with expertise on the ground in Haiti. All personnel survived the quake and our facilities are operational. We have a warehouse just outside of Port-Au-Prince with food, water and purification units. The response is already underway.

Our ongoing activities in Haiti put us in a very strong position to respond. (Convoy of Hope feeds 7,000 kids every day in Haiti through 27 different schools and orphanages) But our in-country resources will only last so long. Containers filled with food, water and medicine are also being staged and shipped.

During disasters, containers can feed up to 12,000 people. Typically food and supplies are donated by corporate partners. But help is needed in underwriting the cost of delivering the containers. The cost for shipping a container into Haiti is about $10,000.

Eventually we hope to send teams of volunteers into Haiti to assist with cleanup, water filtration, etc., but that will be a part of the recovery phase. Due to major security concerns, we will not be encouraging the deployment of teams until we can ensure the safety of our volunteers.

In addition, we discourage people from buying supplies at their local store and shipping them to Convoy of Hope. The greatest need we have right now is cash offerings."

Jeff Swaim
Senior Director - Church Relations
Convoy of Hope

goals

Our church is taking this week to fast and pray; many are doing a Daniel Fast which is a partial fast. One of the things that is helpful when fasting is to have some prayer goals, specific things that you want to see happen. I came across this quote today, and while it is not specific to fasting and prayer, I think it applies.

"In the absence of clearly defined goals, we become strangely loyal to performing daily acts of trivia." –Anonymous

daniel fast

As a church we usually begin the year with a fast, and it began today. Fasting is so much more than just going without food. It is about redirecting your physical hunger to connect with God. Here is a great post by Jeff Leake, pastor at Allison Park who just started a fast today as well. Check it out-it will encourage you!

weekend reflections

We had a GREAT service today (Technical difficulties with podcast-sorry). Awesome worship-the presence of the Lord was very evident. Challenging message, and we concluded the day by celebrating communion.

Here are some of the highlights of the message:
How do we know if we really are loving God with all of our hearts?
Is there something that can clue us in; is there an indicator?

It was Jesus who said, For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Matt 6.21)

If you really want to know how you are doing when it comes to loving God with all of your heart, Jesus made it clear when he said, if you want to know how your heart is doing, see where your treasure is.

Our treasure would be the things that we spend our money on-it indicates what’s important.

If anyone really wants to know how I am doing spiritually, one of the main ways to get the answer is to look at my spending patterns; they don’t lie.

It does a couple of things:
• It reveals my priorities-shows me what’s important to me
• It reveals my passions
• It reveals how I am doing spiritually-it is one of the best spiritual barometers
• It tells us whether we are being obedient or disobedient
• Often love is measured in dollars

As a Christian, we are new creatures—we are called to be different.

As followers of Christ, we want to please the one who died for us, saved us, and lives in us. When asked what is the most significant commandment. Jesus answered, love me with all of your heart. You will know what is in your heart by how generous you are with what you have been blessed with.

For the Christian the tithe is the starting point. Tithe literally means ten percent. Remember—heart transplant. Our hearts should beat for the things that concern God. As followers of Christ, as the tribe of the transplanted, Jesus expects us to honor him FIRST, with the tithe, the first 10 percent as the starting point.

What are you focused on?
Are you focused on what you have or what you don’t have? That is the difference between generosity and greed. That is the difference between selfishness and compassion.

Your focus often determines your reality. If we focus on our wants, enough will never be enough, and your heart will get smaller and smaller. If we focus on the needs of others, you will discover that you have more than enough, and your love for God and others will grow.

Every act of generosity creates a ripple effect that can change the course of history—and it will also change your heart.